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Decision Over Florida Bar's Role in Gay Adoption Case Appealed to U.S. Supreme Court
Daily Business Review
September 04, 2009
A conservative legal organization wants the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Florida Supreme Court decision enabling Florida Bar sections to get involved in controversial issues such as gay adoption.
Maitland, Fla.-based Liberty Counsel contends in a petition filed Tuesday that its First Amendment rights were violated by allowing a section of the Bar, a mandatory membership organization that regulates Florida's legal industry, to file an amicus brief challenging the constitutionality of a state law banning gay adoptions.
Liberty Counsel unsuccessfully tried to block the Florida Bar's family law section from filing its brief in the 3rd District Court of Appeal. In June, Florida Supreme Court justices ruled 5-2 that the family law section is a voluntary bar whose actions are not funded with compulsory dues, and its amicus brief does not violate Liberty Counsel's free speech rights.
The constitutional challenge was argued Aug. 26 before the Miami appellate court.
